1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adhesive tape adhering apparatus for adhering adhesive tape to an upper surface of a substrate on which terminals are formed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A process of producing a flat panel display, such as a liquid crystal display panel or a plasma display panel, includes a step of adhering an electronic part, such as a TCP (Tape Carrier Package), to a terminal formed on an upper surface of a glass substrate. An adhesive tape comprising an anisotropic conductive member is used to adhere the electronic part. The anisotropic conductive member is made of thermosetting resin containing metal particles having a diameter in the micrometers range.
Before the electronic part is adhered to the terminal, the adhesive tape is cut into a predetermined length and adhered to the upper surface of the substrate. The adhesive tape is adhered to a release tape and is wound on a supply reel.
After being unreeled from the supply reel the adhesive tape adhered to the release tape is cut by a cutter into the predetermined length. The length of the cut adhesive tape is set to a length corresponding to the electronic part to be adhered to the upper surface of the substrate.
An unnecessary part of the adhesive tape cut by the cutter is removed by removing means. Thereafter, the adhesive tape is pressed by a pressurizing tool onto the upper surface of the substrate, which is supported by a backup tool. This prior art is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication NO. 2003-51517.
According to the conventional configuration, to adhere the adhesive tape to the substrate, it is necessary to sequentially perform the steps of: (1) cutting the adhesive tape adhered to the release tape by means of the cutter, (2) removing the unnecessary part of the cut adhesive tape, and (3) pressing the adhesive tape against the substrate.
Thus, adhesion of the adhesive tape to the substrate requires the sum of time required to perform the aforementioned three steps as a cycle time. Therefore, the cycle time for adhering the adhesive tape to the substrate is long and the productivity is low.
Moreover, in the prior art, the cutting mechanism, the removing means, and the pressurizing mechanism including the pressurizing tool and the backup tool are aligned in line along a horizontal direction. The horizontal direction is the direction of feeding the release tape. Since the length of the overall apparatus along the horizontal direction is long, the apparatus size is inevitably large.